Scholar-Athlete of the Year: JP Dodson

Basketball wasn’t the only thing JP Dodson took to the next level after graduating from San Marcos High. He also raised his game in academics.

Dodson was honored as the Scholar-Athlete of the Year for Santa Barbara City College on Monday at the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon.

The 6-1 sophomore led the Vaqueros in scoring while carrying an impressive 3.71 GPA majoring in physics. He’s completed 65 college credits.

“As you know, being great at any two areas of your life is extremely difficult, and being a scholar and an outstanding athlete is one of those things that is difficult,” SBCC Athletic Director Ryan Byrne said. “JP is the ultimate representation of that.”

Dodson is a member of the National Honor Society, the California Scholarship Federation, the SBCC Honors Program and Phi Theta Kappa.

In his senior year at San Marcos, he carried a 4.3 GPA and he was named the Channel League MVP after helping the Royals win the league title in 2010.

The son of Dennis and Lisa Dodson, JP hopes to continue his education at UCLA or Harvey Mudd College. He’s also applied to Stanford, Yale and MIT.

He said the key to being a good student is “keeping on track with all your work and not getting behind. I learned that early on. Being an athlete makes it tougher because you‘re constantly busy with practice and games.”